Neighbour’s mess

Seal the borders

• The king of Nepal has obviously decided to destroy not just himself but the institution of monarchy and his entire country as well. In the 21st century, he is behaving like a medieval despot. The Indian mission was caught sleeping as, if this had been known earlier, India could have prevented it. All this will make Nepal an easier terrorist route and India must close its ridiculously open border with Nepal.

— Anupam Jakarta

Light on Andhra

• Your series ‘Killing Fields’ (IE, February 1) on Andhra Pradesh’s Naxal problem is a wonderful piece of journalism! I wish other journalists would take your lead and write about the core issues. And all this time we thought getting Formula 1 to AP was the biggest challenge the state was facing. Under the garb of IT savviness, the TDP and now the Congress have been thriving on what would probably put the Wild West of the 1800s to shame. I wonder if Bihar is better off.

— Manish Detroit

Stop the ban

• It is unfortunate that the Delhi government has banned the use of mobile phones in schools for students. It is vital for them to be in touch with their parents in the insecure environment that obtains today. Banning their use selectively, such as a ban on camera phones, may be considered. A blanket ban is not justified.

— R.R. Rao New Delhi

Like the army

• Remember what Phantom said in the comic strip ‘‘Jungle law, quick and just’’. The recent dismissal of Major Rehman by the army GCM is an exemplary instance of this. The incident occurred in November 2004 and the sentence has been given within just three months. This is as it should be. Now why can’t our judicial system be as fast? Maybe we should hand over our judicial system to the army. In any case, we call them out for all sorts of events like floods, earthquakes, tsunamis. And while we are at it, maybe we could also hand over other executive functions. What about legislative work? If you have a good executive and judiciary, who needs the legislature!

— T.R. Ramaswami Mumbai

Welcome normalcy

• Apropos of your editorial ‘Bite the ballot’ (IE, February 1), the civic elections held in J&K are commendable. Decentralisation and devolution of power strengthens democracy. Other states should emulate J&K and go in for genuine devolution of power. Omar Abdullah’s party says elections were rigged. He should be more concerned with bringing normalcy to the state, not scoring cheap political points.

— Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi